Post-1979 Panama
Write the first paragraph of your article here. Post-1979 Panama U.S. Aid During the rule of Omar Torrijos in the 1970s, United States aid to Panama had been generous, based on the good relations between Torrijos and the United States government. After the death of Torrijos U.S. aid given dropped to far less than previous years with only $2 million towards development and $300,000 for military assistance. Not until 1985 did the United States aid once again increase, showing that the Panamanian government was once again in favor with the United States, through close ties between the CIA and the Panamanian military working towards stopping drug trafficking (Conniff 148). The fact that U.S. financial aid is such a big deal in Panama and affects their economics supports the fact that Panama is dependent upon the United States to a certain degree. With such large amounts of money given to Panama the United States is furthering the dependency of Panama instead of allowing the country to stand on its own. Courtney316 22:13, April 20, 2010 (UTC) Operation Just Cause In December of 1989 the United States made a strategic military decision to invade Panama in an attempt to remove General Noriega from power; the invasion was formally known as Operation Just Cause. Other disputably justifiable reasons for the invasion include drug trafficking suspicions and to protect the human rights of Panamanian citizens as well as Americans living in the Canal Zone. The death tolls and impact on Panamanian civilians remain uncertain, however the United States succeeded in removing Noriega from power. This invasion leads to questions of dependency, as the Panamanian government was corrupt and uncontrolled by the country as a whole and outside forces were necessary to remove a dictator from power. Audra Schickler 20:44, April 20, 2010 (UTC) Tourism Tourism is fairly new in Panama and heavily complicates the issue of dependency within the country. Though tourism is a means of income for many industrialized nations, the presence of tourism in Panama, before economic independence has been fully achieved, may lead to a prolonged dependence rather than economic gain. Many areas such as El Valle, Boquete, and much of Bocas del Toro now rely on tourism as one of their main sources of income. Audra Schickler 21:29, April 20, 2010 (UTC) Tourism in these areas and elsewhere in the country has provided many new jobs directly and indirectly encouraged the creation and expansion of business in specific areas with the infusion of capital. The problem with this expansion of tourism in Panama is that a good deal of the businesses profiting from the industry, such as hotels are foreign owned, so wealth has continued to be extracted from this nation. The story of Panama still reads as a tradgic case of a third world country bullied by its neighbors. Kuna Yala is a comarca where this problem has been avoided thanks to the Kuna's insistence of absolute autonomy of thier lands. The Kuna are an indigenous group that reside on the Carribean coast on a series of islands. The Kuna take great pride in their culture and have only been able to maintain their traditions so well by enforcing stricts limits on tourism within their land.CameronMyers 00:25, April 21, 2010 (UTC) Continued Export Economy In 1978 the transisthmian oil pipeline was constructed. By 1981 the pipeline had paid for itself. In 1983 the pipeline added $154 million in revenue to the economy (Zimbalist and Weeks, 1991). This made the pipeline responsible for 3.5% of Panama's GDP. This is a further example of Panamas decision to base its economy on transit services. The export of goods, particularly agricultural products increased during the 1980's (Zimbalist and Weeks, 1991). Small farms tend to produce staple crops whereas large farms produced crops for export such as bananas and sugar. So when small farms decreased and large farms increased in the 1980's the export of crops increased as well. However, since small farms decreased so too did the amount of staple crops. This forced Panama to increase the import of staples from other countries. The 1980's were typically viewed as a prosperous time in Panamas economic history, but the fact remains that some people's prosperity does not equate to everyone elses. In fact, in the 1980's Panama had a very unequal distribution of funds. The richest 20% had twenty-three times more money than the poorest 20% (Zimbalist and Weeks, 1991). The unequal distribution of wealth and the increased import of staple crops further increased Panamas dependency to other countries since the people were now forced to buy their food and had less money and land to produce their own. Section heading Write the second section of your article here.